Constitutional Convention (Philippines)
A Constitutional Convention, is one of the three methods to amend the Constitution of the Philippines. The others are a People's Initiative or a Constituent Assembly. Article XVII, Section 3 of the Constitution says, "The Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of all its Members, call a constitutional convention, or by a majority vote of all its Members, submit to the electorate the question of calling such a convention."
The 1987 constitution does not specify how delegates to a Constitutional Convention should be chosen. For past conventions, the legislation calling for the convention specified how the delegates would be chosen. In 1971, under an earlier constitution, Republic Act No. 6132 provided that delegates to a constitutional convention would be elected by the national legislative district, in a special election. The 1987 constitution specifies that any proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution must by ratified by a majority of voters in a plebiscite.
The process of amending or revising the 1987 Constitution has become known as Charter Change.
There have been five constitutional conventions in Philippine history:
